From the Magazine Rack
Page 3
Peon and the Matron
In order to be elected to political office in Mexico it is as necessary to proclaim oneself a revolutionary as in the United States it is necessary not to. Although the Mexican Revolution is long past—the political and agrarian reforms took place in 1910, culminating in the expropriation of foreign oil holdings in 1934-40 under President Lazaro Cardenas — the "Continuing Revolution" is an essential part of the belief every Mexican has as to what his Government should be. Revolution is a word which evokes in the Latin American the same sort of emotional response that "balanced budget" does to the North American; it represents a new chance to redress society's injustices and new opportunities for talent to find its rightful place. In Mexico it is such a pervading myth that even politicians believe in it.
To get an idea of Mexican politics one might postulate a sort of see-saw. On one side is the Peon, dressed in white linen trousers, wearing a wide-brimmed straw hat, and carrying a bag marked "Libertad y Nacionalidad"; and on the other side the fat Spanish Matron sits squarely, dressed in black and fingering a rosary. Until the Revolution the Spanish Matron was clearly ascendant; a succession of lovers—first a grandee with a thin mustache and a bag marked "New World Gold," then a Napoleonic soldier, then a British gentleman with an oil can—held her up. When the Revolution came, however, the Mexican Peon pushed himself up with his long rifle barrel and has been up ever since. At the moment the Peon has been declining and the Matron is on her way up again. The typical urban Mexican in all this is, perhaps, the man who, while he admires and continually talks about the Peon, is married to the Matron . . .
THE LOWER-MIDDLE class—shopkeepers, small businessmen, salesmen—tend to see their interests as firmly with the Matron. The great joke life has played on them is that they were not born North Americans, for that is where their hearts are. They are the little Americans who will mortgage their souls for an American-made car, see every American film, follow American mass culture with an avidity which they do not bring even to their church. They are the answer to the advertising executive's dream, the bastion of conservatism. From this class come the students to the thousands of "Commercial Colleges" in Mexico, for to become a business executive is their dream. The lower-middle class sees itself as having nothing to gain by the Continuing Revolution, for social change could swing it back to the peasantry, from whose ranks it has so precariously—and profitably—climbed.
The urban working class, to whom the recent prosperity has meant little more than the solution of the siesta in the interest of higher production rates, sees its aspirations in the Revolution.
THE RURAL PEASANTS, however, play more of a symbolic than a real part in Mexican political life. While every party speaks of itself — and possibly even sees itself — as the defender of the peasants' interest, the peasant himself has little time or inclination to concern himself. He will, for the standard rate, allow himself to be driven to a political rally to swell the "enthusiastic numbers," but in the view of many he merely waits, inscrutably, for the government that will never come. In his opinion all governments are the same, not least in that essential quality of caring little about his condition.
But for the government—and the political party in power, the Party of Revolutionary Institutions (PRI) — the problem of the Revolution is real. On one side is the Peon—his ideals, aspirations and myths; and on the other is the new prosperity, the growing lower-middle class, and the PRI's own comfort—the Matron.
It is a disquieting thought to have to be revolutionary. It is the kind of thought which causes Mexican politicians to wake up in the middle of the night and resolve to do something really revolutionary the next day in order to get back to sleep. Possibly it explains why many Mexicans are ardent supporters of Fidel Castro...
(Excerpted from "Mexico's Continuing Revolution" by Michael Rumney in the Oct. 31 New Leader.)
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The natural sciences can show us many things, but only the social sciences can point out the human values which will lead the way to freedom, Prof. Laird emphasized.
"The Child Buyer" presents an appeal for modern man to place science in its proper perspective and recognize its limitations, Roy Laird, professor of political science said at the Modern Book Forum yesterday.
John Hersey, author of "The Child Buyer," is the Pulitzer Prize winning author of "A Bell for Adano" and "The War Lover." Although reviews on his books differ, "the present level of his work demands looking at," Prof. Laird explained.
"IMPORTANT AS mathematics and science are, this 'tyranny of numbers,' could lose the western world the race," he said.
"The CHILD BUYER" has been termed a "brilliant and bitter indictment of American education," by The New Republic. But The Saturday Review called the novel a failure.
Laird Reviews Hersey's Book
The plot of the book deals with an attempt to buy a 10-year-old boy for the use of his intelligence. Prof. Laird read excerpts from the book throughout his talk to illustrate the satire and humor found in the author's discussions of the culture and education of children.
Thursday, Dec. 8, 1960 University Daily Kansan
"Hersey has attempted and succeeded to explore man as nothing but an extension of his materialistic world. The entire philosophy of the book cries out for exposure — until the conclusion. Here, Hersey fails."
Prof. Laird said:
The book is a failure unless the author purposely depicted a time when science does at last actually explode the myth of the soul, Prof. Laird said.
"The book is essentially a criticism of many things, not just education. It exposes an attempt to put man within rigid categories of emotion, aspiration and values."
Appreciating BB
"We begin with simple ignorance. 'With Audrey Hepburn . . . Leslie Caron and Brigitte Bardot they invented the erotic hoyden.' Poor Mlle. de Beauvoir, to take such an unlucky boss-shot right at the start! For anyone who imagines that the eminently bedworthy Bardot provides the same sort of screen image as the elfin, bush-baby charm of Miss Hepburn or the piquant-pixie attraction of Miss Caron ought to ask the opinion of the nearest man. Worse is to follow. 'Seen from behind, her slender, muscular dancer's body is almost androgynous.' This means, if it means anything at all, which I doubt, that Mlle. Bardot, from the back, could be mistaken for a man. Well, she couldn't...
"Mlle. de Beauvoir is a great hand, too, with the pompous, windy statement that wraps up either a plonking truism or a simple misunderstanding . . . 'She follows her inclinations. She eats when she is hungry and makes love with the same unceremonious simplicity.' So, if the hideous truth must come out, do I. I also drink when I am thirsty, wrap up warmly when it snows, gargle when I have a sore throat, and fall about when I am drunk. So, as a matter of fact, does everyone else I know . . . After a time, Mlle. de Beauvoir's high-minded maunderings cease to mean anything at all."
(Excerpted from a review of the book "Brigitte Bardot and the Lolita Syndrome" by Simone de Beauvoir. The reviewer is Bernard Levine whose review appeared in the Sept. 16 Spectator.)
It is illegal to direct profane language toward the Mayor and members of the Town Council, unless they ask to be re-elected to office. A Helena (Mont.) ordinance
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